Kia ora folks,

September: A few meagre things on my plate, served with a slice of humble pie for dessert. Read on...

A snippet from my writing this month

From The Spirit of Discovery:

Actual writing this month

• I lost myself in some good old-fashioned first drafting. Feels good 💜
• I revised a sci-fi short story called The Spirit of Discovery, as snippeted above - more on that soon if it gets accepted where I'm submitting it
• Not my writing this time, but someone else's... I am beta reading a lovely cozy fantasy by a friend right now. I can't wait to promote it to others to read one day!
• A few other little bits of revision here and there, but not as much as I wanted, because...

The big thing on my mind right now: Authenticity and Sustainability in these busy times

So I did a whole thing, last newsletter, where I said I'd be doing a big social media push this month on Instagram and TikTok.

If you noticed that, then you may have noticed I've gone very quiet on that front.

I got the flu this month and it took me right out. I had to completely reprioritise everything in my life to factor in that I was just not going to have the time or energy to get it all done. I'm still not even fully recovered, and have ended up pulling out of a few commitments even after going back to work because my body is telling me I'm just not going to make it. Even if my mind is saying come on, mind over matter!!

I felt a bit of shame about cancelling my efforts, but I've just had to accept that. I had set it all up and made my idea public as a way of pushing myself into actually doing it. But now, still recovering, I have to be really firm with myself and my boundaries.

For the foreseeable future, I won't be trying to do #pretendpanel on these platforms. I do not feel like it is an authentic step for me to make, in so many ways: health-wise, emotionally, politically (ie. the disgusting state of Big Tech right now), and as a full-time working mother on top of everything else. It's a sure route to burnout, and it doesn't feel like it's coming from a genuine place.

There will come a day where I need to stretch myself into more public shapes which I am not yet comfortable with. But that time does not have to be right now. It doesn't feel authentic at present, and it most certainly does not feel sustainable.

I've curtailed other efforts I had been dreaming up too, but haven't spoken about publically. For now, I just want to keep my head down and keep forging away at my current projects, and continue to enjoy the authentic presence I've carved out on Bluesky.

Here's some of that authentic presence: a silly little art project I did for my friend Khonri's tag prompt game #Septopolis, where we yapped about our made-up cities in our stories. I built Nairu (a city in Ao Rakona) of Lego over the course of a few hours, which actually ended up being quite healing for me after all the stress and sickness this month.

(Related to social media and burnout: I do also want to break the connection between my identities as Hiria Dunning and Kara Moon [my R18 pseudonym] eventually. But the idea of having to juggle two social media accounts right now hurts my brain. It's early enough in the process that I might not really need to. So for now, I'll stay as I am, vague-posting about my R18 content from time to time, until it becomes more important to split it out. There's only so much time in this life, and I don't get enough joy from social media to justify spending yet more time on it, doubling up my burden with two accounts!)

AQWA Update:

[What is AQWA? Find out/be reminded here] The Auckland Queer Writers Anthology closed to entries on the 31st of August. This month, Jade, Jamie and I reviewed the entries before sending them off to the editor. We are so proud of how everyone has grown from first draft through to final submission draft.

Exciting news came in for us last Friday: we were successful in attaining a Creative Communities Scheme grant from Auckland Council and Creative NZ. It was such a relief to get that email and know that someone has our backs monetarily. Also, I've gotten this type of grant before - back before children, when I was more active in the independent theatre scene - so it's nice to know I still have my magic grant-writing powers :D

The immediate next steps for us include: working with the editor, cover artist, formatting, getting into the Auckland Pride programme, and starting a Boosted crowd-donation campaign to raise the final bit of extra funds we need to completely bankroll this little effort of ours. (Don't worry, I'm not doing it all! I'm mostly in charge of the funding stuff since I have the most experience in that area)
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On the blog this month:

I've started a new series of blog posts which I hope will prove useful for a long while afterwards. The Lore Drops are living semi-wikis where people who come to my writing and don't know all the backstory - all the 'who I am' and 'what am I talking about' stuff - can catch up in one concentrated place. These are the Lore Drops for this month:

​Lore Drop #2: Love in the Time of Te Rāhuinui​

And over on my brand new Kara Moon website, Lore Drop #1: The World of Ao Rakona and Lore Drop #2: A Prayer for the Pirate Queen​

And the very first one lore drop from my main site from last month was:

​Lore Drop #1: Peregrine Pax // My Best Friend is an Interdimensional Shapeshifting Time Traveller
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What's coming next month:

• I'm going to a book launch. Do you remember, ages ago I mentioned that I was a judge for a youth anthology? Well that book is finally being launched in early October and I'll be going along to the event. More on that in next month's newsletter.
• I'm attending the Hui Kaituhi in Gisborne. Can't wait for the drive down; I'm going to be scouring all the second hand book shops on the way for books missing from my Star Trek collection! There's going to be all sorts of events at the Hui. I've been so busy that I've barely actually let the programme sink in, so I feel like for some of it, I won't even know what I'm going to until I'm there. This is also a chance for me to catch up with my fellow Te Papa Tupu alumnus Steph Julian, as well as mentor Tania Roxborogh. There may well be others I've met before who it will be great to catch up with. Can't wait!
• Attendees of that Hui get to submit to an anthology, so that's where I'll submit Spirit of Discovery. Hopefully it finds its home there!
• I'm popping down to the English language day of the Kupu Māori Writers Festival. I had such a wonderful time last year, so I'm really looking forward to going again! And it's an opportunity to catch up with another Te Papa Tupu alumnus, Taryn Baker, and who knows who else. It's going to be lit.
• The AQWA folks will have a little party to celebrate our progress later on in October, and grab some material for our Boosted campaign e.g. photos, little interviews, previews of the stories going into the anthology etc.
• I'll be revising my novella Marcie and then submitting it to a certain reputable publisher of fine queer novellas. It feels a little gutsy to dare to think I belong amongst them, but still... have to be in it to win it, right?
• And honestly? Checking in with how I am doing, and working on recovering from that flu! It's no joke, and it has really forced me to face my limitations. That's probably for the best, really. I am STILL coughing heaps, three weeks on. I really hope I manage to do all of the above that I listed, as all of that is stuff I have been planning for in the long-term and it would really suck to miss out.

All the best for you and yours this month (and don't get sick...)!

Arohanui,

Claire Hiria